Students requesting 'Sugar Daddies' to pay for college

EAST LANSING, Mich. (Detroit Free Press)- There's no flipping hamburger, serving drinks or answering phones to make enough money to pay for college for several hundred Michigan students.

Instead of more traditional jobs, they are turning to "Sugar Daddies" to help pay the climbing costs of college, according to SeekingArrangement.com, which bills itself as the world's largest Sugar Daddy web site.

The students are coming from all over Michigan and are tracked by their e-mail addresses.

Michigan State University is the fastest growing university in the state as far as students signing up for the web site, approximately 133% growth. Other universities showing big growth in Michigan are Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan.

In 2012, there were 108 signups at MSU; 84 at EMU; 80 at UM and 76 at WSU.

"College should be an opportunity to expand the mind and experience new things," founder Brandon Wade said in a press release. "Unfortunately, because of the of recent tuition hikes, the college experience has become greatly unbalanced.

"While some may argue that these women are just using men for their own personal gain, I believe that they are proactive in pursuing a higher education."

The site offers anyone signing up with a .edu e-mail address a free premium membership.

The site describes "Sugar Babies" as "students, actresses, models or girls and guys next door. You know you deserve to date someone who will pamper you, empower you, and help you mentally, emotionally and financially."

It describes "Sugar Daddies" as "You only live once, and you want to date the best. Some call you a mentor, sponsor or benefactor. But no matter what your desires may be, you are brutally honest about who you are, what you expect and what you offer."